24 Nissan 5759 / April 10, 1999 Parshat Shmini

The Torah is the instruction manual of the world written by the Maker of world. No one knows better how to operate a machine than its maker. Imagine someone buying a new car. The salesman says to the proud new owner "Oh, yes sir. One more thing - your instruction manual." The driver says "Oh, I don't need that. I instinctively feel what the tire pressures should be, and I have a sixth sense when the car needs a major service. I know intuitively what octane fuel the car needs."

Few people when faced with operating something as precise and unforgiving as a car would leave these sorts of decisions to instinct and feeling. Life is no less demanding nor complex than a car. Rather more so!

And yet many people are happy to coast along, assuming that they are not putting water in their spiritual gas tank.

The purpose of life is to become close to the Creator of the world, and only the Creator of the world knows how the world can be utilized to become close to Him.

We live in an era where people are often more interested in feeling spiritual than being spiritual, where glossy short-cuts try to replace the hard work of real spiritual growth.

That is what the Torah is warning us against in the story of Nadav and Avihu. These two sons of Aaron the High Priest, who stood to inherit their father's lofty spiritual position, were incinerated in a heavenly blast for bringing their own fire onto the altar.

The "strange fire" may feel spiritual, but it cannot connect one with the Source. And the reason it cannot is the seemingly redundant phrase, "which He had not commanded them." If it was a strange fire, then by definition it was not commanded by G-d. Rather, the reason that it was strange is precisely because it was not commanded.

Our connection with G-d is through doing His will. The will of a person and himself are indivisible - the self expresses itself as the will. Only when we do G-d's will do we bring ourselves close to Him, and the mitzvos are the physical expression of G-d's will.

Selections from classical Torah sources which express the special relationship between the People of Israel and Eretz Yisrael Beersheba The name of this city, which played such an important role in the lives of the Patriarchs, comes from the covenant which Abraham made with the Philistine ruler Avimelech. The pact was sealed with an oath on the site where Abraham had discovered a spring of water ("Beer" - spring, "Sheva" - swear) and where he later established the base of his legendary hospitality. The well built upon this spring was eventually stopped up by the Philistines until Abraham's son Isaac redug it and called it by the same name, marking the covenant which he made with the very same Philistines. It was also from Beersheba that Jacob set out for his journey from the Land of Israel. Modern Beersheba is Israel's largest development town and is known as the "Capital of the Negev." During the War of Independence it was initially captured by the Egyptians and later retaken by Israeli forces in "Operation Ten Plagues."

My father was in Manhattan a few months ago, and met a man who said he was a Professor from Israel, giving a seminar in his field that day. My father, being a warm, generous man, with many cousins in Israel, engaged this Professor in conversation for quite a while. Finally, the poor Professor mentioned that his wallet had been stolen just a short while ago. "What will you do in Manhattan without funds?" my father asked, and offered him a large sum to cover food and transportation. They then exchanged names, addresses and phone numbers. The man promised to send my father the money as soon as he heard from his wife in Israel.

All this was relayed to me, because I live in Jerusalem, and my father wanted me to look him up. Well, the phone number Dad gave me for that neighborhood, I knew wasn't correct. Sure enough, it didn't work. No problem, I thought. I'll just look it up in the directory. The Professor was indeed listed, but on another street. His answering machine claimed that he and his wife were still abroad, with no country specified.

The months went by, and every other phone call, my father asked me if I had reached the Professor. Finally, last night, I called, left a message on the answering machine, and received a call back within an hour. Here's our conversation: "I just want to make sure I have the right person," I began. "Is this the Professor that was recently in America?" "Yes, we were." "Well, my father asked me to call you because he so enjoyed meeting you in Manhattan." "Manhattan? No, we were in Florida and Detroit."

"Are you sure you weren't in Manhattan? That's where my father said he met you, on your way to give a seminar!" "No, I am sorry, we were only in New York to catch a flight back to Israel." I wasn't sure what to say next, when I heard the Professor's wife talking excitedly in the background. Suddenly, he asked me, "Tell me, did this man ask your father for money?"

"Well, sort of, he claimed he had been robbed. And my father gave him a hundred dollars!"

Then the Professor told me that a few years ago they also received some calls from New York concerning sums of money he apparently had `borrowed.' He explained to me that all the details of who he was and what he did could be gotten out of the University "Who's Who", and any intelligent scoundrel could impersonate him.

"How terrible for you!" I sympathized.

"Yes, and I am very sorry about this. I have heard that this man makes a very good impression. I also make a good impression, but apparently he makes a better one! Please tell your father that when he visits, I would be happy to introduce him to the real Professor!